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Synapses #1
Synapses
Listening to other people’s thoughts can be fatal.
After a horrific car crash robs Gabriella Williams of all her memories, she works to rehab her legs while trying to regain her lost power of speech—and to remember her husband who walked away from the wreck uninjured.
With the help of a top doctor and his new experimental speech therapy, Melodic Intonation Therapy, Gabby’s synapses are rerouted, awakening parts of her brain better left alone. What seems like an unpredictable disturbing side effect, she quickly discovers her ability to listen to the emotional thoughts of people around her—some good, and a few terrifyingly wicked.
While still in rehab, Gabby finds herself at the receiving end of a murderous plot. With the help of her roommate’s uncle, Jace Wright, a DC Hill security guy, the deadly scheme is foiled, but she’s still in danger from an obscure unknown threat. Together, Gabby and Jace struggle to eliminate the real threat a woman with seemingly unlimited power before Gabby’s world comes to an end.
After a horrific car crash robs Gabriella Williams of all her memories, she works to rehab her legs while trying to regain her lost power of speech—and to remember her husband who walked away from the wreck uninjured.
With the help of a top doctor and his new experimental speech therapy, Melodic Intonation Therapy, Gabby’s synapses are rerouted, awakening parts of her brain better left alone. What seems like an unpredictable disturbing side effect, she quickly discovers her ability to listen to the emotional thoughts of people around her—some good, and a few terrifyingly wicked.
While still in rehab, Gabby finds herself at the receiving end of a murderous plot. With the help of her roommate’s uncle, Jace Wright, a DC Hill security guy, the deadly scheme is foiled, but she’s still in danger from an obscure unknown threat. Together, Gabby and Jace struggle to eliminate the real threat a woman with seemingly unlimited power before Gabby’s world comes to an end.
- GenresScience FictionMystery
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 28, 2023
31 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 10, 2017
Synapses by author Debra Erfert is a compelling novella which hooked my interest right from the start. Gabriella Williams was in an automobile accident months earlier with her husband, Mason. He was able to walk away with minor injuries but Gabriella has a traumatic brain injury. Her family has been told there is no help for her and even a partial recovery is not possible. The scans show no brain activity and the family has been recommended to remove the life support. Her husband Mason rarely comes to the hospital and will not be there for her final moments. As her mother leans over and says “Goodbye, my angel”, the nurse is told to discontinue the IV.
Wait! Wait! No one can hear the thoughts screaming in Gabriella’s mind! She felt the sting of the IV being removed … ” Wait, I can’t breathe!” Oh my! Can you imagine this scenario?
Six months later in a rehabilitation facility Gabriella can hear…she can not respond, but she can hear. It is as if she hears the words her mother says before she utters them. How can that be? Her vision is extremely sensitive to the light. She has recently been able to breathe without help, but she can not speak. A new doctor visits Gabriella and her mother with a new therapy. He wants to work with her and thinks there is a possibility of her regaining her memories. Dr. Stratton wants to try added electrolytes combined with the pulses from a TENs unit to amplify the synapses and impulses in order to increase activity to the neurons for a response.
Uh-Oh, Mason has come to visit and he does not like the sound of this new treatment. Well, not the treatment exactly, but the possibility that Gabriella may recover those memories prior to the accident!
Odd things begin to happen and I can imagine the possibilities of more to the story!
Wait! Wait! No one can hear the thoughts screaming in Gabriella’s mind! She felt the sting of the IV being removed … ” Wait, I can’t breathe!” Oh my! Can you imagine this scenario?
Six months later in a rehabilitation facility Gabriella can hear…she can not respond, but she can hear. It is as if she hears the words her mother says before she utters them. How can that be? Her vision is extremely sensitive to the light. She has recently been able to breathe without help, but she can not speak. A new doctor visits Gabriella and her mother with a new therapy. He wants to work with her and thinks there is a possibility of her regaining her memories. Dr. Stratton wants to try added electrolytes combined with the pulses from a TENs unit to amplify the synapses and impulses in order to increase activity to the neurons for a response.
Uh-Oh, Mason has come to visit and he does not like the sound of this new treatment. Well, not the treatment exactly, but the possibility that Gabriella may recover those memories prior to the accident!
Odd things begin to happen and I can imagine the possibilities of more to the story!
May 14, 2017
Seriously Debra? That's how you end it? Okay, when is the next one coming out. You can't leave me hanging like that with so many questions to be answered! Oh right I'm supposed to talk about the book. Intense from the opening word the end. I had a nice ending. It's an interesting take on a story and the way it's told. HOWEVER, so much is open there HAS to be another and SOON!
December 8, 2025
Top Notch
This is a well-written, top notch, paranormal mystery. I love it when someone develops unexpected abilities! With the mystery and plot twists, I am hooked. I am still mentally debating Mason's degree of involvement, if any, in all that happened.
I enjoyed it so much, I am ready to reread it, right now! I look forward to the other books in the series.
I wonder if the future books see karma impacting those who were culpable....
The content is clean. There is some non-graphic violence.
Happy reading!
This is a well-written, top notch, paranormal mystery. I love it when someone develops unexpected abilities! With the mystery and plot twists, I am hooked. I am still mentally debating Mason's degree of involvement, if any, in all that happened.
I enjoyed it so much, I am ready to reread it, right now! I look forward to the other books in the series.
I wonder if the future books see karma impacting those who were culpable....
The content is clean. There is some non-graphic violence.
Happy reading!
March 16, 2023
I enjoyed reading Synapses. Gabby is in a terrible car crash. She's in a coma for 3 months, then in rehab for a long time. She can't remember her past life. She wonders what does her husband have to do with the mysterious people showing up? She explores her new abilities that came as a result of the brain injury. Gabby and her new friends end up in one dangerous situation after another. I love the well-thought out ending.
November 14, 2017
I really thought this book was amazing.
You see what Gabby is going through ---- through her eyes.
There was one place where I thought I knew what happened and I am glad that I was wrong.
I did not want this book to stop-I wanted to read more.
You see what Gabby is going through ---- through her eyes.
There was one place where I thought I knew what happened and I am glad that I was wrong.
I did not want this book to stop-I wanted to read more.
December 5, 2025
Awsome
Great book. I couldn't put it down. The plot and situations were fairly real. Demanded to any who enjoy reading interesting books.
Great book. I couldn't put it down. The plot and situations were fairly real. Demanded to any who enjoy reading interesting books.
February 23, 2023
This is an exciting read with lots of surprises. Gabby faces dealing with an uncertain future without the benefit of past experiences. Her mind is a blank slate when she wakes from a coma. Unable to speak or walk, she relies on TV and her mother to figure out how the world works. A medical treatment unlocks mental and physical abilities beyond anything she's seen on television during her recovery. Throw in bad guys, missing money, and a good-looking new friend, and you have everything you need for a suspenseful and satisfying read. I will warn that the ending leaves a major unanswered question. I presume the next book will answer that question as a springboard to new adventures.
April 28, 2017
Synapses by DJ Erfert is a good short story. I enjoyed reading it. I would have liked to know more about the characters but this novella was a complete story. I liked the story there was a bit of a mystery to it. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys short stories.
May 9, 2023
Ms. Erfert has written an astounding and addictive suspense tale that is just unputdownable!
Read full review in the 2023 May issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2023 May issue of InD'tale Magazine.
January 16, 2018
A fascinating storyline. An unforeseeable byproduct of treatment to stimulate Gabby's brain becomes a tool to help solve a crime. But that is surely not the end of the story ...
April 18, 2023
Synapses
Intelligence restored step by step, having to relearn how to talk, read, count, but love was always there. Wow! Best
Intelligence restored step by step, having to relearn how to talk, read, count, but love was always there. Wow! Best
June 14, 2023
Creative premise. Fun story.
4 1/2 stars
4 1/2 stars
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews